Drawing shapes is not the main purpose for what the GIMP is used. Shapes are created either by painting them using the technique described in Figure 5.4, “ The dialog shows a new image, filled with a white background. ” or by using the selection tools. Of course, there are various other ways to paint a shape, but we'll stick to the easiest ones here. So, create a new image and check that foreground and background colors are different.

Figure 5.8.  The screenshot shows how a rectangular selection is created. Move the mouse in the direction of the red arrow by holding the left mouse button pressed.

Basic shapes like a rectangular, triangle or ellipse can be created using the selection tools. The tutorial uses a rectangular selection as an example. So, choose the rectangular selection tool and create a new selection: hold the left mouse button pressed while moving the mouse to other positions in the image (illustrated in figure Figure 5.8, “ The screenshot shows how a rectangular selection is created. Move the mouse in the direction of the red arrow by holding the left mouse button pressed. ”). The selection is created if you leave leave the mouse button pressed. For more information about key modifiers look at the selection tools.

Figure 5.9.  The screenshot shows how a rectangular selection fill with the foreground color.

After creating the selection, you can either create a filled or an outlined shape with the foreground color of your choice. If you go for the first option, choose a foreground color and fill the selection with the bucket fill tool. If you choose the latter option, create an outline by using theStroke selection menu item from the Edit menu. If you're satisfied with the result, remove the selection.